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5 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. STEVER. FIRE ESGAPBL No Model.)

' Nb. 283,163. Patented-Au 4., 1.883.

H V V V S gammgg 5 SheetsSheet 3.

J.) STEVER.

FIRE ESGAPE.

Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

(No Model.)

1v VEA/ foe A Harm W/TIVESSEL dco/m 5 Shets-Sheet 4;

(No Model.)

J. STEVER. V

v FIRE ESCAPE. No. 283,163. Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

INVENTOR scu WITNESSES (No Modl.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

' J.-STEVER.

" FIRE ESCAPE. N0. Z8.3 ;163., Patented Aug. 14, 1883.

WITNESSES IN m/rog Q Alf-orney I r new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes;

a UNITED, STATES PATENT GFFICE.

JEREMIAH STEVER, OF BRlDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, .BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE BRIDGEPORT AUTOMATIC SAFETY LADDERAND"HARDWAR E COMPANY, on SAME PLACE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 283,163, dated August 14, 1883,

Application filedFebr-uary 10, 1883. (N0 model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, JEREMIAH. STE R, of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield'and' State of Oonnecticut,have invented certain and I dohereby declare the following togbe a; full, clear, and exact description of theinven-i A 1 tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the IQ same. .i A a My invention relates to an improvement in fire-escapes, the object being to provide a flexible ladder and means for retainingit within small compass in the upper portion of a building and for releasing it from any story of the building. a

A further object is'to provide means for automatically checking. the descent of the ladder. a l A further object isto provide certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts in a fire-escape to enhance its efficiency and facilitating its operation, With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will hereinafter be described, and pointed out in the claims.

.In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a a view in side elevation of a portion of a build- 1 f ing to which my improvement is applied- Fig. 2 is a rearview of the wallIof the building, showing the arrangement of the different parts of the fire-escape. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view,

C in perspective, showing the automatic check- 3 5 ing mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detached view, in 1 vertical section, of the checking mechanism, showing the relative position of parts when the ladder is wound on its drum. Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing the relative position of 1 0 parts when the ladder has been lowered. Fig.

6 is a view, in side elevation, of the-drum and tripping mechanism. Fig. 7 is a detached view, in vertical section, of the housing for the v weighted end of the ladder. Fig. 8 is a detached view of the-tube fortheoperating cord or rod. Fig. 9 is a detached view of the links of the flexible ladder. Fig. 10 represents the .B is; a suitable shield bearings, B, located at the top of a building and secured to the inside of the walls thereof. partly encirclingv the drum.

To the shaft 0 of the drum, or any other portion thereof, is secured one end of a flexi ble ladder, D, the outer or free end of which passes through a guideway, E. The guideway consists of the curved or inclined bottom, 7

a, and sides I), which extend through the wall of the building and in close proximity to the To the sides I) is pivoted the upper end of i ladder when the latter is wound up on the drum. Ladder D is composedof the flat links e, which are formed with end loops, 6, and a narrow central connection, 0 The blank is bent back upon itself, thereby forming a single loop, 6 of the two end loops, 6, and a loop, e,*o f its central connection, 6 Another blank is then inserted through the loop 6 and then bent back upon itself in the manner above described, and .thus achain, F, of any desired length, is formed. .Two of these chains are united'at suitable intervals by the ladderlengthwise, as shown, and their opposite ends slotted, as at f, within which slots are inserted a link of the chain, the round. being secured by rivets f. A chain of this construction is especially adapted for the purpose of a flexible fire-escape ladder, because the links are flat and the chain quite flexible, thereby enabling the ladder to be wound into small compass and insuring its free winding on the drum. Again, theladder thus constructed is of great strength, is very light in'weight, and hence answers admirably the purposes in view. To the lower or free end of the ladderis conrounds G, which are preferably corrugated A tates its automatic release.

nected a rolling-weight, G, which insures the quick descent of the ladder, and also facili- When the ladder is wound upon its drum, the roller G comes in contact with the outwardly-flaring end of the pivoted shield, raising the latter and entering the guideway E, the weight being supported on the inclined bottom of the guideway. When the drum is released the roller-weight rolls down the inclined bottom, carrying the ladder with it to the pavement or the ground.

On one head of the drum A is secured a wedge or cam-shaped stop, H, with which engages an arm, h, on the trip lever H, the latter being pivoted at the point h. Lever H is upheld by a spring, I, and is provided with a notch, 13, in which engages a gravity-pawl, J, when the lever is drawn down. To one end of the drum-shaft is secured a crank, J, forwinding the ladder upon the drum. In the operation of winding, the arm 71. of the trip-lever rides over the stop on the drum, while theladder is prevented from unwinding by the arm h, engaging the heel 'j of the stop. To the trip- .lever is connected a cord or rod, K, which exin the apartment of each story, as represented at Z, through which slots project the handles M, which are secured to the cord or rod. By depressing any one of these handles the cord or rod K is depressed, thereby serving to retract the trip-lever and allow the drum to re volve and the ladder to fall to the ground. "When the trip-lever is retracted or depressed sufliciently to disengage it from the stop on the drum, the gravity-pawl locks the trip-lever in its open position, this being done to insure the unwinding of the entire length of the ladderfrom the drum. Hence by a quick pull on the cord or rod the parts are locked in such a manner that the ladder will instantly unwind and fall to the ground. When it is desired to wind the ladder upon the drum, the

. vided with a slot, n, in which engages a bar,

N, that serves to prevent the rotation of the disk. The drum-shaft is screw-threaded, as at O, and carries a nut, 1?, having an arm, 1), which engages with thebar N, and thus retains the nut against rotation with the drumshaft. Between the nut'and the friction-disk is placed a pawl-spring, Q. When the ladder is wound upon the drum, the nut P will be in the position illustrated in Fig.- 4. When the drum is released, the screw feeds the nut toward the drum, and the parts are so constructed and arranged that when the ladder has nearly reached the pavement the nut will have compressed the spring and forced the friction-disk against the drumewith sufficient force to check the velocity of the drum, and thus check the descent of the ladder, and thereby prevent breakage of the ladder or other parts of the apparatus by a sudden shock or strain.

A building may be provided with any desired number of the fire-escapes, and, as the ladders are arranged in close proximity to the windows and may be easily operated from any floor of a building, they will afford quick and efficient means of exit from a burning building.

As it is evident that many slight changes in the construction and relative arrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, I do not limit myself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts shown and described; but

I would not have it understoodthat I am intending to claim, broadly, a device for automatically checking the descent of the ladder, since it has come to my knowledge that this, in its broad sense, has been heretofore accom plished. In the instance to which I refer a spiral spring was attached, at one of its ends, to the shaft of the drum, and at its other to afixed nut, the coil of the spring being increased by the revolutions of the drum as the ladder neared the ground. Further, I am aware of the fact that chains have been constructed of the links employed by me in the construction of my improved flexible ladder; but by extended experiments and tests I have ascer= tained that a fire-escape ladder constructed in the'manner herein shown and described, has special characteristicsv adapting it to the use in question. The ladder thus constructed is very light in weight and of great flexibility, and hence may be handled with a minimum outlay of power. Further, the ladder thus constructed is exceedingly strong and durable,

and hence can be safely trusted for the purposes'of a fire-escape.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fire-escape, the combination, witha drum, a flexible ladder, and a friction-disk, of a traveling nut adapted to force the frictiondisk against the head of the drum, substantially as set forth.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination, with a flexible ladder, a drum and'friction-disk, of a screw-threaded drum-shaft, a traveling nut located thereon, and a spring interposed between the nut and friction-disk, substantially as set forth.

3. In a fire-escape, the combination, with a flexible ladder, a drum and friction-disk, of a traveling nut, a spring and means for pre- Venting the rotary movement of the nut and the chains, of corrugated ladder-rounds, substantially as set forth.

5. In a fire-eseape, the combination, with In testimony whereof I have signed this the inclined stop H, secured to oneside of the v specification in the presence of two subscribdrum supportingitheladder, 0f the trip-lever ing witnesses. H, provided with a projection, h, and notch 5 i, the spring I, adapted to uphold said trip-le- Witnesses:

ver, the pawl J, and means for depressing the GEORGE 000K, v trip-1ever, substantially as set forth. r i GEORGE F. DQWNING.

JEREMIAH STEVER. 

